US Justice Dept to release less redacted version of Mueller's report

Hours after releasing the redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, United States Justice Department on Thursday announced that it will provide access to a less edited version of the report to specific members of the House and Senate from April 22.

According to CNN, the department will provide a secure reading room available for lawmakers and their staff between April 22 to 26 from 10 to 5 pm.

However, this version will also have redactions for the grand jury information, but the other categories of information will remain unchanged.

This comes in the wake of protests by several Democrats asking Attorney General William Barr to release an unredacted version of the report.

The 22-month long investigation into the alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 Presidential election was unable to clear Trump in the matter, stating that the President's action and intent "present difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred", reported CNN.

Titled "Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election", the report further states that the Trump campaign knew they would benefit from Russia's illegal actions to influence the election, but did not take criminal steps to help.

"After nearly two years of investigation, thousands of subpoenas, and hundreds of warrants and witness interviews, the Special Counsel confirmed that the Russian government sponsored efforts to illegally interfere with the 2016 presidential election, but did not find that the Trump campaign or other Americans colluded in those schemes," Attorney General William Barr said in a press conference before the release of the report.

Mueller also made it clear that Congress can continue to investigate Trump. The report further states that following media reports that the "Special Counsel's office was investigating whether the President had obstructed justice," Trump had directed his lawyer to remove special counsel Robert Mueller.

"On June 17, 2017, the President called McGahn at home and directed him to call the Acting Attorney General and say that the Special Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed. McGahn did not carry out the direction, however, deciding that he would resign rather than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre," the report read.

The report further stated that Trump's efforts to influence the investigation were "mostly unsuccessful", largely because "the person surrounding the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his request".